If There Was A Time For Kisses, It Would Be Now
by Took-An-Arrow-In-The-Knee
Summary: After knocking on the wrong door, things go horribly wrong for Brenda and Sharon, and will change thier lives forever.
1. Prologue

_**Saturday the 15th - 2:48 am - Hills Hotel Bar  
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"Hit me!" Brenda Leigh Johnson told the bartender while jabbing at the bar with her index finger.

"No." Came the reply.

She frowned at the young man behind the counter, and closed one of her eyes. "How did you do that without moving your lips?"

There was an audible sigh and a hand was thrust in front of her face with snapping fingers. "I think you've had enough Chief."

The blonde turned to her left and remembered why she was drinking in the first place. "Cap'n," She began, "I think I am perfectly capable of judging when I have, and haven't 'Had enough' Thank you very much."

"I'm not sure that you are." Captain Raydor shook her head and faced the young bartender. "Could you bring us two glasses of iced water and a strong black coffee?" She gave him a clipped smile and he nodded once before walking away.

The blonde groaned as she rested her head on the bar. "Why are you here?"

"Mrs Johnson called me."

Brenda Leigh gave the other woman a surprised look. "Mama called you? Why would she call _you?"_

"I asked myself that very same question." Sharon responded as she took a seat on the hotel bar stool next to the Chief.

"I know why she called you." The blonde said quietly and humph'd. "I think I've drunk too much."

"Really? And there was me thinking you could go another round."

"Sarcasm Cap'n? You broke your promise. And it only took you," Brenda held her wristwatch up to her face and squinted. "Two days."

Sharon sighed, she _had_ broken her damn promise, and she genuinely felt bad about it. "I know."

"That means I can break my promise now."

"Yes, it does."

"But I won't, because I'm the better person." The blonde gave her a short nod.

"Yes, you are."

"Stop being so damn amiable!" Brenda Leigh snapped as she glared at the other woman. "You're just doing it because you pity the poor lush drinking alone."

"Don't confuse pity with empathy Chief. I was there too; I understand why you're doing this."

"But you're sober, and I'm not." The blonde shut her eyes tightly and that indicated the conversation was over. That, or she was just feeling sick.

The Captain remained silent as she rubbed her forehead and looked at the smaller woman closely. Underneath that grumpy, drunken shell, was a woman who was in pain, she knew this because it was the same pain she felt.

She hadn't taken the Chief to be someone who tried to numb the pain with booze though; that was more her style, but they weren't the same people they were a week ago, and nothing was going to change that.

The bartender came back with the drinks and left them immediately to go and wipe some glasses. Sharon wondered if the man was waiting for them to leave, it was almost three o'clock in the morning and they were the only ones here. _Fuck It._ She thought. He was young, and if there was anything you could say about youth, it was that they had energy by the bucketful.

"Drink up." She pushed the coffee towards the blonde.

"You're so bossy."

"I am, now drink up."

Brenda Leigh groaned as she picked up the cup then downed the beverage in one go, and pulled a face that made it look like she was having some sort of spasm. "Urgh, you could've at least put sugar in it."

Sharon hid her smile behind her hand, and with her other, she took the empty cup away.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you Cap'n?" The blonde narrowed her eyes accusingly. The Captain shook her head, and the Chief snatched away the hand that was failing to hide her mirth. "You are! I'm not here to amuse you." She huffed, and sat up quickly, grabbing onto the bar to steady herself.

"Easy." Sharon placed her hand on the small of Brenda's back.

"I'm not a child!"

"No. You're drunk. And you seem to forget that I made you more than one promise."

"That doesn't count anymore. None of them do. You'll break your promises, I'll break mine. And we can both go back to the way things were. The very best of frenemenemies. Frenemies. It's for the best really, wouldn't you agree Cap'n?"

"No." She shook her head. "Drink. Up. Then I'll take you home."

"Whose home?"

"Whosever you want."

"In that case." The blonde pointed a finger out at her, waggling it around in circles, and then she let her hand drop onto Sharon's jacket lapel. "I choose yours."

"Mine?"

"You did just say I could pick."

"Yes, but, well… We've spent the last week together."

"It wasn't exactly by choice, Cap'n." The smaller woman gave her a soft smile, and removed her hand.

"Fine, you can sleepover."

"Ooh, does that mean we can watch The Notebook, eat a pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, and have pillow fights!"

"Shut up." The Captain smirked. "And drink your water."

"Bossy." Brenda Leigh picked up the glass of water and took out the ice, throwing the cubes onto the bar, then chugged that down quickly.

Sharon gave the bartender an apologetic look as she picked up the scattered ice, and put it into the second glass.

"Brain freeze!" Brenda Leigh blurted out, slamming the tumbler onto the counter, and stood up, albeit unsteadily, but she seemed proud of this feat. "Come on then Cap'n, take me home."

Sharon got up from her stool, took out her wallet and dropped a twenty onto the bar. The blonde stumbled into her, and looked up with a smile. "You still owe me Kisses."

The Captain laughed loudly and took the smaller woman's arm, draping it over her shoulder. "Thank you for reminding me."

"I never forget Kisses, not even from you."

"Well, aren't I the lucky one."

"Sarcasm."

"It's hard to switch off a habit of a lifetime."

Sharon Raydor had spent many years not explaining herself to anyone, and she found it odd that she was doing so now. But she really didn't want to upset the smaller woman. Not just because she was a rowdy drunk, but because she actually _cared_ if the Chief was upset. It was an odd sensation.

"I am aware."

She carefully manoeuvred the blonde out into the parking lot, ignoring the other woman's babbling for the moment, and when she reached her car, she eased her into the passengers' seat. "I've not long had this detailed, if you feel the need to vomit; open the window."

"Aye, aye Cap'n." Brenda Leigh saluted.

Sharon gave the other woman a smile as she closed the door, and walked around to get into the vehicle herself. "Are you sure you don't want to go home to your husband and parents? They're worried."

"I'm sure. Can you call Mama and tell her you're taking care of me?"

"Actually, I already told her."

"You have tremendous foresight, Sharon." The blonde chuckled, and rested her head on the Captain's shoulder.

"I said I'd take care of you until it was over."

"It is over." The Chief mumbled.

"It isn't over until you can close your eyes and not relive it." Sharon countered.

There was a beat of silence before Brenda said, "Then thank you, for taking care of me."

"You're welcome."

They didn't speak for the rest of the journey, or when they got back to her house. As soon as the blonde's ass touched the couch she was out like a light, and Sharon was a little envious of the other woman's inebriation, although not enough to remedy it. She'd tried that last night, and the nightmares she had were not worth trying it again. For the foreseeable future, she and Mr. Jim Beam were not going to be friends.

And she needed a friend right now. Perhaps the woman drooling on her leg at this moment was her substitute.

That should've been the most petrifying thought she'd ever had. But what she'd been through; what they'd both been through, had made her re-evaluate everything in her life, and that included the way she thought of the bane of her professional life; Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson.

Eight days ago she made a decision out of pettiness; out of frustration with this woman's pathological need to lie and manipulate to get what she wants, and now they were both paying for it.

She still owed this insufferable woman her chocolate Kisses, and she always paid her debts.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Thursday the 6th – 1:17 pm - LAX**_

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Sharon Raydor was relieved to land in the airport after her two-day-conference ordeal in San Francisco.

Two days of sleeping on a crappy bed and two days of constantly being accosted by her fellow officers in the bar at night. She would've preferred to let her hair down elsewhere, but social protocol dictated that she stay and talk to a bunch of drunken men -the women avoided her like the plague- and she was forced to listen to them whine about the department's budget cuts, and take their jibes about how there are only two divisions that aren't forced to work one week on, one week off, and they were Major Crimes and F.I.D.

It had been tedious, but she'd had worse days. Now she was going to go home, put on some Billie Holiday, open a nice bottle of red and get into a steaming hot bath. It was going to be utter bliss.

"Captain!"

Perhaps not.

Her kneejerk reaction to having her rank called out - by a voice she recognised - was to lift up the newspaper she was holding and cover her face. Which was completely redundant.

"Captain Raydor!" A second voice she recognised called out.

She exhaled loudly, dropping the paper, and turned to face the couple she really wanted to avoid.

"Lieutenant's Provenza and Flynn." She nodded. "On your way out of town are you? And I see you're being held up by security. Good luck with that."

"Wait! Captain. Could you tell these assholes that we're L.A.P.D and not smugglers?"

"Diplomatic as ever Lieutenant Flynn. You might want to refrain from calling them names; they usually don't like that sort of thing."

She shook her head in exasperation and looked over to the very _large _security officer, who was frowning deeply as he stared at the screen showing the image from the x-ray, and was waving a hand, beckoning his colleague over.

Hmm. Well, this wasn't her concern.

Sharon gave the two men a tight smile as she spun on her heel, and she _almost_ managed to get to the exit before hearing a great deal of yelling from a swarm of security personnel, who were heading towards the two detectives.

Fucking. Fuckity. Fuck. What the hell did these two get themselves into now? Maybe if she ran, she could get out before…

"Captain!"

Perhaps not.

Although, none of them were on duty, maybe she could- Oh, what the hell was the point in trying to kid herself?

She did a one-eighty and strode back to where Provenza and Flynn were currently being forcefully pushed down on the ground.

"Officers, I'm Captain Raydor of the L.A.P.D," She riffled through her purse and pulled out her badge, flashing it to the people who weren't man-handling the two men. "These two gentlemen are Lieutenants in the Major Crimes Division; could you please tell me what's going on?"

"Ma'am," The large man she noticed earlier crooked a finger at her, "You might want to look at this."

This couldn't be good. She walked to where he was standing in front of two open suitcases, and she actually felt her jaw drop a little. Her gaze shifted back and forth from the cases to the security officer, and finally asked, "Is it real?"

"I'm afraid so Ma'am. You say that they work with you?"

"Work _with_ might be stretching it, it's more like work _against_." She should probably be taking this more seriously. "Can I use your pen, Sir?"

"Oh, of course. The name's Karl by the way." He gave her a nod and handed over his ballpoint.

Carefully, she used the pen to move some of the contents, and managed to stop herself from heaving up the coffee she'd drunk on the plane. "Lieutenants!" She glanced down to the two detectives. "Did you pack these bags yourselves?"

"Why does everyone want to know this?"

"There are body parts in your luggage."

"What? We didn't put them there! It's a set-up!"

_Good Lord_. "Obviously, Lieutenant Provenza. I mean, what possible reason could the two of you have to want to bring a butchered corpse on your trip?"

"It was that damn taxi driver! I knew that guy was acting fishy."

"Captain?" Andy tried to lift his face off the floor only to get it squashed back down onto the presumably, very dirty floor tiles. "Uh, could you call the Chief?"

_Do I have to? _ "My pleasure."

Half an hour after Sharon called the Deputy Chief, the exasperating woman walked into the airport with her team following closely behind. It made her think of _Reservoir Dogs_.

Her plans for the day had definitely gone down the crapper.

* * *

_**3:41 pm – Lieutenant Provenza's apartment**_

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"So, Lieutenant Provenza, you and Lieutenant Flynn left here at, what time?" Sharon held out her note book, pencil hovering above the paper as she looked at him expectantly.

The old man scowled at her while he held an icepack to his face. "Ten."

"And that would be when the taxi arrived?"

"Yes!"

"Can you tell me about the route he took?"

"I don't know!" He snapped, and then his attention was elsewhere. "Hey, Gabriel!" He wagged his finger. "You put that down. That baseball is a genuine replica of one Babe Ruth signed."

"Sorry Lieutenant." The Sergeant smirked as he made a show of gently replacing the ball onto its stand.

"Anyway," She said, giving Gabriel a brief frown before attempting to bring Provenza back to her questions. "The route?"

"How the hell should I know? I wasn't paying attention."

"Because you'd already started drinking?"

"What are you implying?" Provenza's veins looked like they were about to pop.

"Relax Lou." Andy put his hand on the old man's shoulder and gave Sharon a mischievous smile. "The taxi guy picked us up, went to Laurel Street, Cherry Avenue, then down to San Pedro, after that, we went to LAX."

"That's quite the detour Lieutenant."

Flynn puffed out his cheeks and shrugged. "He said he was off the clock."

"And you didn't find this suspicious in any way?"

"What do I care if some Ching Chong wants to drop some stuff off to one of his twenty sons? As long as I don't have to pay…"

The Captain pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned; it was no wonder this man's file was as thick as an encyclopaedia. "Did he specifically _say_ that this person was one of his children Lieutenant?"

"Well… The kid called him 'Pops'."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that they were related."

Flynn shrugged again. "I don't usually take a detailed family history from my cab drivers, Captain." He looked over to the Deputy Chief behind her for a moment, and Sharon could see the woman give him a slight nod in the reflection of the glass from the cabinet. Great. The diversion tactics had started already. These people were nothing but thorns in her side.

"We searched the whole apartment Chief," Sanchez said as he walked out of the bedroom, "We didn't find anything."

"You'd better have put everything back where it belongs, Julio." Provenza warned.

Sharon allowed herself a small smile. Provenza was a cantankerous son of a bitch, but his fondness for Detective Sanchez was obvious.

"I'm sure he did Lieutenant." The Chief waved a hand at the old man. "Thank you Detective." She nodded at Sanchez and turned towards the door at hearing someone walk in.

"Commander." She acknowledged before turning back to the room and rolled her eyes.

"Anything I can do?" Taylor asked.

Brenda glanced at her watch, and Sharon saw the beginnings of that, oh-so-sweet, false smile the Chief used, so very often, as Taylor strolled into the room.

"Actually Commander, there is." The saccharine smile spread across Chief Johnson's face. "As two of my officers are unable to be involved in this investigation," Brenda narrowed her eyes at Flynn and Provenza. "I need a spare man to help Detective Sanchez to do a door-to-door in the neighbourhood. If you wouldn't mind of course Commander. It would be such a great help."

The man puffed out his chest and nodded. "Always happy to help Chief."

"Thank you so much Commander." The blonde adjusted her purse and rolled her shoulders. "Okay, you two," Her attention was on her Lieutenants. "Make your way to the station; I trust that you won't flee the State. You haven't every other time this sort of thing has happened. Chief Pope wants to have a word with you, so I suggest you see him as soon as you get there."

Chief Johnson gave them a look as they walked out, that Raydor was immediately suspicious of. But then that was her default feeling when it came to Brenda Leigh. Unfortunately she had no idea what the silent communication the blonde had sent out, meant.

What she did know, was that the Chief was probably going to try and get rid of her somehow, and Sharon wanted this case to be over with as soon as possible, and that damned woman was going to do what she always did, and make her job impossible. But this time she wasn't going to let that happen, she was going to stick by the woman all day, every day if she had to. Even if it killed her. Which was entirely possible.

"Lieutenant Toa, if you could ride with Buzz and call Morales on the way back to the station and see if he has any information for me?"

"No problem Chief." The man nodded and his glasses fell from the top of his head onto his nose, and he pushed them up with his finger.

"Thank you Lieutenant. Captain? Sergeant Gabriel and myself have to have a conversation with the F.B.I, so if you'd like to help, maybe you could make a visit to the cab company Andy and Provenza used."

As the blonde began to walk out Sharon smirked before calling out, "Actually Chief, you may recall that I don't have a vehicle at the moment, and my luggage is in _your_ car. So Sergeant Gabriel, perhaps _you_ could talk to the owner of the cab company, and I could accompany Chief Johnson."

"Uh…" He gave the blonde a panicked look.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then Sergeant." Raydor gave him a smile as she breezed passed the two of them and out into the hallway.

She made her way down the stairs, enjoying the fact that she was victorious. Admittedly, it was a very small victory, but she had to take them where she found them.

All she could hear as she walked down the steps was the sound of her heels echoing off the walls. There was something pleasant about the noise her shoes made; she found clicking sounds very satisfying.

"So where we going?" Sharon asked after five awkwardly tense, silent minutes in Chief Johnson's car. They obviously weren't going to the F.B.I office, so she assumed they were on their way to one of the locations the taxi driver had gone to.

"San Pedro." The blonde finally answered after glaring at her for a few moments.

_Well, this is going to be a jolly day_. She thought sarcastically.

Was getting this investigation over with sooner, worth the pain of dealing with a sulky Deputy Chief? She would prefer Argumentative Chief, or Duplicitous Chief, even Petulant Chief over Moody Teenager Chief.

The only thing she could hope for was that the Warehouse District they were on their way to, had all the answers Brenda Leigh Johnson needed.


End file.
